TWO students from Priestley College have taken on a marathon challenge to raise money and awareness for mental health in young men.
Best friends Brad Meah and Callum Keenan, who both study T-Level Engineering, are running 200 miles in March and have already raised over £1,000 for Movember.
For Brad the decision to test his body and mind came after he lost his brother, Ben, to suicide two years ago.
“Everything came crashing down on me that day and I thought I was never going to recover,” said the 16-year-old.
“However, I have been determined to focus my energy into doing something positive and the most important thing for us is to spread awareness about young lads’ mental health because it is not talked about enough.”
Callum has experienced his own struggles with mental health and also wants to encourage young men to talk or seek help if they need it.
“Lads don’t always want to talk because they’ve heard phrases like ‘man up’ and ‘don’t be a baby’ all their lives and it stops them from opening up,” he said.
Family and friends are supporting the two former Beamont Collegiate Academy pupils who are running 6.5 miles every day this month to reach their target.
So far, they’ve completed runs on Formby Beach, at Sefton Park and Sankey Valley and aim to do a different run every day to keep it interesting as they rack up the miles.
Their goal was to raise £300, but they surpassed that in week one and have so far raised more than £1,000.
However, Brad said just as important as the money was to raise awareness of the issue – something he believes could have helped his brother and many more young men like him.
“The stigma around this is so ridiculous, everyone has the right to talk about how they feel,” he said.
To support Brad and Callum please go to uk.movember.com/team/2485046 or search for Meah Mentality on the Movember website.
